Step Van Competition Gets Permanent Spot at National Truck Driving Championships

This story appears in the Dec. 20 & 27 print edition of Transport Topics.

American Trucking Associations has agreed to give step van drivers a permanent spot in the National Truck Driving Championships.

Following a two-year test of the step van competition, the NTDC committee, a group of trucking safety professionals, voted to make it permanent during a Dec. 9 meeting in Orlando, Fla., the site of the 2011 competition, scheduled for Aug. 9-13.

“Any time we can promote safety in the trucking industry, we’re going to do it,” said Rick Cates, a member of the committee, who is the director of safety and security at the North Carolina Trucking Association.

“It’s just exciting on all levels,” said Scott Mugno, managing director of safety at FedEx Express. A majority of step van drivers competing at NTDC in the past two years have worked for one of FedEx Corp.’s subsidiaries.

“Of the drivers that have heard the news, all of them are just pumped up,” Mugno added.

The structure of the step van competition will be the same as it has been in a two-year trial, said Cates. Known as the National Step Van Driving Championships, the competition includes a driving test, skills test and pre-trip inspection test. Step van drivers will not be eligible to become the NTDC Grand Champion.

ATA added the step van event in 2009 at the urging of FedEx, UPS Inc. and other association members that operate step vans. David Thompson, a FedEx Ground driver from Arkansas, won the first NSVDC in 2009. Sean Saxon, a FedEx Ground driver from Arizona, won the competition in 2010.

Cates said he voted to continue NSVDC. He said he took into account what he heard from the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and other law enforcement groups that support NSVDC for its role as a safety program.

Mugno cited similar reasoning in his support of the class.

“Here’s 7.1 million more drivers that become part of the best safety program there is,” he said, quoting a U.S. Department of Transportation estimate of the number of step van drivers.

Mugno also calls the decision “a win for the public,” since step vans frequently drive on local streets, and drivers often interact directly with residential customers.

“We’re so influential, being in step vans on public streets and residential neighborhoods,” said Aryn Pittaway, a step van driver for FedEx Express.

Pittaway, based in Fort Worth, Texas, placed second at the 2010 NSVDC in Columbus, Ohio. It was his first NSVDC, and he has driven a step van for 16 years, 13 of them with FedEx Express.

Although step van drivers generally do not travel as many millions of miles as longhaul truckers, Pittaway said, his urban routes are comparable. He said that he shares the road with many other vehicles and has to maneuver safely around pedestrians as well as navigating narrow roads.

“In my opinion, it’s very comparable to what the large truck drivers do on the road,” he said. “I’m glad that it’s being finally recognized as an official class. It’s excellent.”